"As restrictions on prescription painkillers become tighter in the wake of new legislation, officials battling substance abuse in Eastern Kentucky say some addicts are turning to more illicit markets to get their fix."

"Accidental death by prescription drugs might be the worst ailment Southwest Virginia faces, as the rates of such tragedies have increased by 40 percent in our community in just five years. Among the counties with the highest rates are Russell, Dickenson, Wise, Buchanan and Tazewell."

"For much of last year, unemployment in rural counties was well below rates found in metro regions. In the last several months, however, rural rates have not come down as fast as urban rates — and rural America has developed an unemployment problem that is more severe than what is found in urban counties."

"Gene Kitts, senior vice president of environmental and regulatory affairs at Alpha Natural Resources, said Alpha's desire is to produce coal in a manner that is sustainable. He said the goal of the coal industry should be to 'create shared value.' 'At Alpha we're not just trying to keep up; we're trying to do more than is required,' Kitts said."

"The Obama administration argued Tuesday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was right when it issued new water quality guidance intended to reduce the damage to streams and aquatic life from mountaintop removal mining."

"You can turn your phone on in Green Bank, W.Va., but you won’t get a trace of a signal. If you hit scan on your car’s radio, it’ll cycle through the dial endlessly, never pausing on a station. This remote mountainous town is inside the U.S. National Radio Quiet Zone, a 13,000–square-mile area where most types of electromagnetic radiation on the radio spectrum (which includes radio and TV broadcasts, Wi-Fi networks, cell signals, Bluetooth, and the signals used by virtually every other wireless device) are banned to minimize disturbance around the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, home to the world’s largest steerable radio telescope."